Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Oy.. I have so much to report!! It has been a crazy 2 days here at the hospital.. I guess not crazy. oh well.. ANYWAY. Yesterday for her 8AM feeding, she did awesome! She took her entire feeding and we didn't need to give her any extra! I was super excited! I figured she'd be tired for her 2PM feeding but she did alright. She took about half so I was happy. THEN.. for the 8PM feeding.. she took 1 1/2 times her normal feeding amount!!! She was really hungry. Then.. the nurse fed her a bottle for the 2AM feeding and she took the WHOLE THING!!! So when I came today, I had pretty high expectations. 8AM - full feeding. 2PM - full feeding. 8PM - FULL FEEDING! So because she ROCKED it.. the nurse suggested we do breastfeeding back to back. So 8PM AND 11PM. Mostly to see how she does and if she does well, we will do a 12 hour on demand feeding tomorrow. That means, I come in at 8AM and stay until 8PM and feed her when she wakes up and is hungry. It's going to be a long day but I'm excited.

So right now, Clint and I are sitting in the waiting room watching the basketball game while we wait for 11:00 to come. I'm sure she'll do well because she's had 7 successful feedings IN A ROW. Sorry for all the CAPS. I'm feeling very expressive right now.. if I were telling you this story in person, there would be a lot of hand flailing! I'm very excited!!

SO. After this 12 hour on demand feeding tomorrow, assuming she does well, we go to 24 hour on demand feeding (possibly Friday or Saturday) and assuming she does well with that, we ROOM IN with her.. like she is actually in the room with us and we take care of her as if we were at home (possibly Saturday or Sunday) and if she does well with that... WE. GO. HOME. Possibly Sunday or Monday. I. AM. FREAKING. OUT. This is all assuming she does well.

SO, I'm anticipating at least a week from Friday to a week from Sunday. I don't want to get too excited about this. I think we are still waiting for the ok from Ms. OT to clear us on bottle feeding and she doesn't come back from vacation until next Wednesday.

BUT, the eye doctor came today (and all of the above is based on what he says about her eyes today..). HE SAID.. that her eyes look the same. If not the same, BETTER. That's right, BETTER. Word for word, he said to me, "We will probably be seeing you next week in the OFFICE." That means as an OUTPATIENT. I know right??? I will be going from my house, with her, to the eye doctor. CRAZY. I still can't seem to wrap my head around this. Every nurse that comes by (of course knows who we are...) and says "How's Darbi these days??" and with a huge smile on my face, I blabber on about how AMAZING she is. It's too hard not to brag...

So today, after her 2PM feeding, the Nurse Practitioner (Wendy) came in to do her rounds on Darbi and I could hear her outside of the curtain asking the nurse about me and Darbi and saying that she hasn't seen Darbi before. She came in and the picture of Darbi dressed as a princess was hanging on the wall and next to it, it said "Darbi at three months". She was confused because she left on January 19th to take her maternity leave which means that she would have been around when Darbi was born (January 1st) which means she would have seen her. SO, she was asking me about which bed space was Darbi's when she was born. I started to explain a little bit and I could see the light click on in her dead. Wide eyed, she looked at me and slowly asked, "Is this the same baby who had her esophogus punctured?" I proudly responded "YES!!" She said that she was there the day it happened and was actually watching the procedure and saw the minute they had punctured it. She said she remembered it because it was such a horrible day. She remembered thinking that this little baby was going to be sent to Primary and she knew she would not see her again because she would probably not make it. She could not believe that this was the same baby!! It made her day and gave her chills when I told her about how when Darbi got to Primary, the hole had healed itself (after one extremely spiritual blessing given by Clint). Darbi really is our little miracle.

So tomorrow, I will be hanging out with the Darbster all day and watching a lot of King of the Hill on my lappy, and also taking my CPR infant training course from my nurse. SO exciting!!

9
Wisecracks:

Clint and Audrey! This is the GREATEST news! I am sooooo happy for you! Darbi truly is a miracle.

I'm sure you have a ton of people offering their help and support... but PLEASE know I am here if you need anything. I'm happy to help with TRULY anything.

I hope tomorrow goes well. Text me if you're hungry and want some lunch or dinner. I'd be MORE than happy to bring something by... kneaders? With a Dr. P, of course! :) Seriously though, let me know if you need anything.

Your little Darbster is such a strong fighter!! Im so happy that she is so close to going home with you guys. Im sure that she will do great with the 12 and 24 hour demand feeding. Sounds like she is on a major growth spurt!! She looks so wonderful. `Sharip.s. I love her peach fuzz on her head!!

Darbi's Preemie Story

Clint & Audrey

Darbi

1.1.09

1 pound - 11 inches long - 23 weeks 5 days

"Often do the spirits of great events stride on before the events. And in today already walks tomorrow"-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next." -- Dieter F. Uchtdorf